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I've been feeding my neps a few drops of milk in each pitcher for a couple weeks now by way of experiment. I have done no controls, but the new pitcher the N. campanulata put out is encouraging:

The digestive juices in the campanulata pitcher are very viscous! It's almost like karo syrup or something.

I have noticed that the milk will accelerate pitcher death, but that may be true of any feeding in the species i've noticed it with. Be careful not to get milk on the pitcher itself, or it will cause problems.

Hi d. muscipula. I see you've been getting in touch with our german counterparts!!. They were the first ones to feed milk to Nepenthes and who knows how many other types of cp's. Please ask Joachim or Jan W. They'll can update you on this technique.

I particularly find this milk pitcher feeding very convenient. Unlike some, I don't add too much milk just 5 drops for pitchers that are 3 cm or smaller, 10 drops for pitchers between 6-10 cm and 20 drops for pitchers bigger longer than 20 cm. For some reason, my pitchers have not died yet. Furthermore, I use skim milk. I read somewhere that the fat in the milk accelerates pitcher rotting.

My kind of topic . I've been using milk on and off now for a couple of months now. I have found that it deffinately improves growth, even in my vfts. I have noticed too, that in the pitcher plants, the death of the pitcher is hastened. But, using 2% milk helps, and perhaps diluting it with a bit of water as well. Sundews love this stuff too by the way. I need to get a better droper then a straw though . But, many cp growers from canada that I've spoken to think it's a really disgusting idea, and I just dont know why .

i'll have to try this, though Im going to use 1 percent milk and use only one drop to see what happens. The plant is opening a new pitcher now, so I'll try on that one, as I learned the hard way that the plant dislikes pygmy grasshoppers(pitcher grew a black spot, but otherwise looks ok..though Im not going to be surprised if it dies early)

i do agree that milk does accelerate growth, but i don't like to use it. i just believe they should get the same things as they get in the wild. Nathaniel, i believe you only talked to one canadian cper who doesn't like the idea of feeding milk, the other guy is from europe. and i never said its sick, i just said i wouldn't do it. Zongyi

What you want to do is illeagle here in Canada.
Email does not work&#33; Use PM or yangzongyi@hotmail.com instead.

Quote[/b] (trashcan @ Nov. 10 2003,10:36)]How long have you been growing this plant?

It looks great.

Thanks.... i've only had it for a bit more than a month, long enough for it to put out most of the pitchers that it has.

The oldest pitcher is rotting, and the milk in it is clearly the culprit. I think that the pitcher juices are just too viscous for the milk to mix in and be fully absorbed. I'm still going to keep feeding it milk, though, unless/until it becomes obvious that the milk isn't contributing to the growth. The fluid in the ampullaria pitchers is still clear, so they are doing a better job of absorbing it.